Apparatus for making waist bands for trousers



WELL-HANSON 29314594113 I APPARATUS FOR MAKING WAIST BANDS FOR TROUSERS Filed Sept. 16, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jam. 33, m CID WILLIAMSON Q APPARATUS FOR MAKING WAIST BANDS FOR TROUSERS Filed Sept. 16, 1935 A 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 31, 1939 UNITED APPARATUS FOR MAKING WAIST BANDS FOE TROUSERS 12 Claims.

My invention relates to waistbands for trousers, and method and apparatus for making and applying them. It is concerned with the construc tion, method and apparatus involved in forming 5 a trousers waistband from a self-goods facing and a lining (with which a stiffening ply may be associated) and attaching the assembled waistband together with belt loops to the trousers body.

Among the objects of my invention are: an improved waistband construction; an improved method and apparatus for guiding the facing and lining to the sewing machine for preliminarily assembling them; means for automatically spacing the belt loops and guiding them to the waistband for incorporation therein; an improved method and apparatus for guiding the assembled waistband and trousers body to the machine which sews the waistband to the body and for guiding the partially anchored belt loops to the sewing machine; and in general the simplification of the making and attachment of the waistband, preferably employing but two lines of stitching for assembling the waistband and securing it to the trousers body.

The foregoing, together with further objects, features and advantages of my invention, are set forth in the following description of a specific preferred embodiment thereof and illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the waistband facing and lining assembling sewing machine and guides of my invention, with the facing guide in plan section;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the sewing machine and guides of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail longitudinal vertical section of the central region of the belt loop positioning turntable showing its adjustable pivotal mount- Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section on the line 44 of Fig. 1 looking toward the end of the sewing machine;

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section through the facing guide taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a detail plan section through the facing guide of Fig. 5, taken on the lines 68 of Figs. 2 and 5; and

Fig. '7 is a detail radial vertical section of the belt loop positioning turntable when it has carried a belt loop to the radial position of the line 7- of Fig. l.

The first operation in the employment of my method and apparatus is the assembly of the self-goods facing and the lining along the edge which will become the top edge of the trousers. This assembly is done on the sewing machine shown in sheets 1 and 2 of the drawings. This sewing machinewhich for convenience I shall refer to as the first sewing machine-indicated generally at as is mounted on a bench 2| and comprises a standard head 22 and feed roller 23, and presents the usual table surface 24 for the work. To the sewing machine 2t there is fed a facing 25, which is usually of self-material, that is of the material of the trousers. Preferably the facing 25, which has been arranged in a continuous strip, is pre-formed with its left edge 25L and its right edge 25R turned under and creased down against the body of the facing. The facing 25 is fed from a supply roll 26 mounted on a convenient standard 27 and extends in a horizontal direction over the curved upper end 30 of the rear wall 36 of a vertically arranged facing guide 28, which may conveniently be secured on the head 22 of the machine by a bracket 29. The facing guide 28 is of hollow construction and a flattened rectangle in cross-section and comprises, in addition to the rear wall 30, a front wall 31% spaced therefrom, and a left (Fig. 6) end wall 32 and a right end wall 33. Within the hollow facing guide 28 there is mounted an inside plate 3d. The lower portion of the right end wall 33 is offset as indicated at 33' so that the lower portion of the guide is wider than the upper portion. This is to provide for the unfolding of the normally creased down edge 25R of the facing. The upper portion of the right-hand (Fig. 2) edge of the inside plate t l enters the bight of the creased down edge portion 25R and when any given longitudinal point in the bight reaches the right-offset region of the edge of the inside plate 34 opposite the offset 33 in the right end wall of the guide, the creased portion is caused to unfold and assume the plane of the body of the facing, whereby the facing and the unfolded edge 25R. thereof occupies the full width of the wide lower portion of the guide 28. The facing 25 is brought from the roll 26 horizontally, with its folded back edges 25L and 25R on the unden side, to the curved upper end 3!! of the rear wall of the facing guide 28, and then brought downwardly and inserted in the interior of the facing guide with the inside plate 34 entering the bight of the folded margin 25B of the facing strip, as previously explained. By the time the facing has reached the lower end of the hollow portion of the guide 28 and the previously creased down marginal portion 25R has been unfolded into a plane with the body of the facing, the facing is disposed wholly between the inside plate 34 and the front wall 3! of the guide 28. For this reason, as will be seen from Fig. 5, the inside plate 34 is not exactly parallel with the side walls of the guide 28, but is inclined slightly so that at its lower end the inside plate 34 is farther from the front wall 3 l. The front wall 3| is preferably slotted as at 3! adjacent its upper end to permit an operators finger to. assist in threading the facing 25 into the guide adjacent the unfolding region of the guide.

If desired, the facing 25, as it is fed through the facing guide 28, may be given additional tension by employing a tensioning device, which I have shown in the drawings as arranged anteriorly to the guide 28 and supported at the upper end there of. The tensioning device comprises a curved upper guide portion 35 and a hollow rod-like cross bar 36 offset from the line connecting the surfaces 35 and 30 to effect the tensioning of the facing 25. In order to urge the facing toward the unfolding end edge of the facing guide 28, the guide portion 35 of the tensioning device is a little lower at the right-hand side, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

The facing 25 emerges from the lower end of the facing guide 28 with the previously creased edge 25R of the facing guide unfolded into the plane of the body of the facing 25, but the other folded edge 25L of the facing remains creased down against the body of the facing. The facing passes over the rearwardlycurved lower edge 37 of the rear wall 30 of the guide endinto a horizontal position beneath the presser foot 38 of the sewing machine. The presser foot 38, it will be noted, is in the form of a greatly enlarged shoe, having upturned forward edges and of a width approximating that of the facing.

The primary function of the sewing machine 20 is partially to assemble the facing 25 to the lining strip by forming a seam along the edges which will eventually be the top edge of the trousers. The lining 40, with which crinoline or similar stiifening 39 may be associated, is fed in strip form from a roll 4| of lining conveniently journaled on a support 42 from the bench 2! and passes from the top side of the roll through a guide 43, which, discharges the facing on the table surface 24 of the machine, and immediately beneath and aligned with and in contact with the facing 25. The guide 43 has a rightwardly extending horizontal bracket 43' attachedto the table of the sewing machine for positioning and supporting the guide.

The facing guide 28 and the lining guide 43 are so positioned in reference to the needle 44 of the sewing machine that the line of stitching formed by the needle is just to the right (Fig. l) of the line of crease of the edge portion 25R of the facing and at considerable distance inwardly from the right-hand edge of the lining 40. As indicated at the lower end of Fig. 1 the stiffening strip 39 underlies the lining 4i), and the left edge 40' of the lining 40 is turned over and creased down to embrace the left edge of the stiffening 39 and a marginal portion of the undersurface of the stiffening 39. The lining and stiffening are preferably slightly adhered together. Their righthand edges are coterminus and need not be previously scored or folded.

The line of stitching formed by the sewing machine 20 is also to anchor what will eventually be the upper ends of the belt loops which are to extend across the outer or exposed side of the facing 25. These belt loops must be inserted at predetermined spaced points along the facing. To facilitate the accurate and ready placement of the belt loops, I provide a turntable 45, which turns about a pivot pin 46 and lies upon a tumtable bed 4! which may be supported by legs 48 from the bench 2| and positioned to the right of the head 22 of the sewing machine. In order to provide for different diameters of turntables 45 which are required for varying lengths of waistband in different sizes of trousers, I do not attach the pivot pin 46 directly to the bed 4'!, but instead to a pivot supporting bar 49 which underlies the bed and is held thereto by suitable shoulders 46, 45" on the pivot pin 46, which extends through a longitudinal slot 50 in the bed. The outer or left-hand end of the pivot supporting bar 49 is secured to an extension ear 4'! of the bed by means of a bolt and thumb nut 52 passing through a slot 5! in the ear 4?. The slots 50 and 5! permit the longitudinal adjustment of the pivot pin 46 to position the pivot for any desired diameter of turntable 45. As shown in Fig. l the pivot pin 46 is. so positioned for the specific size of turntable 45 shown that the periphery of the turntable overlaps the lining and facing, but not the line of stitching formed by the needle 44. This overlapping chord of the turntable is interposed between the lining strip 40 and the facing strip 25. To insure a friction drive of the turntable by the feeding of the goods through the sewing machine, I prefer to provide a narrow margin of friction surfacing material, such as emery paper, about the margin of the turntable 45 on its underside. .This frictionally engages the lining strip 40 better to turn the turntable at the same peripheral speed as the travel of the lining and facing through the sewing machine. The turntable 45 may be formed of thin sheet metal or of fibre board, flexibility being desirable.

A plurality of belt loop clamps 54 are rockably mounted by pivot pins 55 to clamp bearing members 56 arcuately spaced about the turntable 45 and secured thereto by attaching ears 55 which penetrate the turntable and are turned over the underside thereof. Each clamp 54 is normally urged down against the surface of the turntable 45 by a spring 5i which encircles the associated pivot pin 55.

The feeding of the facing and lining strips through the sewing machine turns the turntable 45 counterclockwise. The trailing edge of each clamp 54 has a turned down flange 58, the purpose of which is to embrace the rearward edge of a belt loop at the proper time to move the belt loop forwardly with the turntable and insert the belt loop between the facing strip and the lining strip. For lifting each clamp at the proper time to permit the insertion of a belt loop thereunder, each clamp 54 is provided with a rearward extension carrying an upturned oblique cam 59. As the turntable is rotated the cams 59 are successively engaged by a camshoe 53 positioned by a bracket '50 which may conveniently be secured to the same bracket 29 which supports the facing guide 28. The reason the camshoe 60 shown in the drawings appears greatly overwidth along a radius from the pivot pin 46, is that the same camshoe 65 may serve for different diameters of turntables 45.

The operator places a belt loop, previously cut to proper size, on a belt loop feed holder 62 and against the upturned flange 63 thereof. The flange 63 is arranged upon a radius from the pivot pin 46. As the position of this radius will vary with different positions of the pivot pin 46 for different diameters of turntable 45, the holder 62 is adjustably supported from the table of the sewing machine by means of a slot i l in the forward portion of the holder 62 through which an adjustable clamping screw extends. For convenience the holder 62 may be mounted on the bracket 43 of the lining guide rather than directly to the sewing machine table. In placing the belt loop 6| on the holder 6?. so that the rearward edge of the belt loop is embraced by the flange 63 of the holder, the belt loop positioned longitudinally of the flange so that a predetermined length of the belt loop overlies the turntable. The camshoe 6B which has raised the clamping end of a clamp 54 is so arranged that it permits the clamping end to engage the belt loop after the operator has positioned the belt loop at the holder end in such timed relation that the trailing flange 58 of the clamp engages behind the rearward edge of the belt loop 6|. Continued counterclockwise rotation of the turntable 45 takes the belt loop out of the holder 62 and carries it between the facing and lining with the right end of the belt loop extending beyond the needle 44 and the line of stitching 65 formed thereby. In this manner one end of the belt loop is anchored by the stitching 56 and the belt loops, as will be seen from the upper portion of Fig. 1, are carried between the facing and the guide with the left ends of the belt loops protruding beyond the assembled facing and lining.

I prefer that the arm portion 62 of the holder 62, upon which the right half of the belt loop rests, extend beyond and slightly overlap the margin of the turntable to insure the margin of the turntable being in substantially the plane of the holder. The trailing flanges 58 of the clamps 54 may, if desired, terminate a corresponding distance short of the periphery of the turntable to prevent their catching the end of the arm portion 62'.

Because, as is common in the manufacture of trousers, the rear center belt loop of the trousers is applied after the assembly of the waistband and trousers body and after the formation of the back seam, it is not necessary to attach the rear center belt loop by my turntable mechanism. Similarly at the fly ends of the waistband there is a long gap free of belt loops because of the overlapping of the fly ends and the clearance needed for the belt buckle. For this reason the turntable, whose periphery represents the length of two waistbands, does not have the belt loop positioning clamps 54 equally spaced arcuately about its entire periphery, but has the clamps arranged in groups of three each, with the clamps of each group spaced about 45 apart, but with the groups spaced some 90 apart, the spaces representing the back and fly edges of the waistband.

My apparatus as above described has been concerned with the assembling of the facing and lining along one edge which is to become the top edge of the trousers, and the anchoring of the upper ends of the belt loops. The waistband, after being thus assembled, may be secured to the trousers body portion either by hand or by means of a separate machine.

While I have shown and described this specific embodiment of my invention, I contemplate that many changes may be made in the construction, method and apparatus without departing from the scope or spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. The combination with a sewing machine, of

means for guiding the facing strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, means for guiding the lining strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, with the lining and facing in mutually superposed relation whereby the sewing machine forms a line of stitching securing adjacent edges of the lining and facing together, and means for inserting the upper ends of belt loops between the facing and lining for anchoring the upper ends of the belt loops to the facing and lining by said line of stitching, said inserting means comprising a turntable, means for pivotally mounting the turntable to bring a portion of its periphery in overlapping relationship with, and extending between, the facing and lining, the turntable having frictional engagement with one of said strips for rotating the turntable by the movement of the strips through the sewing machine, and loop engaging means arcuately spaced about periphery of the turntable for carrying successive belt loops at spaced intervals between the facing and lining.

2. The combination with a sewing machine, of means for guiding the facing strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, means for guiding the lining strip of a. waistband to the sewing machine, with the lining and facing in mutually superposed relation whereby the sewing machine forms a line of stitching securing adjacent edges of the lining and facing together, and means for inserting the upper ends of belt loops between the facing and lining for anchoring the upper ends of the belt loops to the facing and lining by said line of stitching, said inserting means comprising a turntable, means for pivotally mounting the turntable to bring a portion of its periphery in overlapping relationship with, and extending between, the facing and lining, the turntable having frictional engagement with one of said strips for rotating the turntable by the movement of the strips through the sewing machine, belt loop clamps arcuately spaced about the per phery of the turntable for engaging lengths of belt looping and carrying them at spaced intervals between the facing and lining, and cam means including portions on the clamps and on a clamp actuator for successively opening said clamps for reception of belt looping prior to insertion between the strips.

3. The combination with a sewing machine, of means for guiding the facing strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, means for guiding the lining strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, with the lining and facing in mutually superposed relation whereby the sewing machine forms a line of stitching securing adjacent edges of the lining and facing together, and means for inserting the upper ends of belt loops between the facing and lining for anchoring the upper ends of the belt loops to the facing and lining by said line of stitching, said inserting means comprising a ttuntable, means for pivotally mounting the turntable to bring a portion of its periphery in overlapping relationship with, and extending between, the facing and lining, the turntable having frictional engagement with one of said strips for rotating the turntable by the movement of the strips through the sewing machine, belt loop clamps arcuately spaced about the periphery of the turntable for engaging lengths of belt looping and carrying them at spaced intervals between the facing and lining, spring means tending to close the clamps, a cam surface on each clamp, and a cam actuator for engaging the cam surface at each clamp for opening the clamp for the reception of a length of looping and for permitting the clamp thereafter to close under the influence of its spring means before insertion of the associated length of looping between the strips.

4. The combination with a sewing machine, of means for guiding the facing strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, means for guiding the lining strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, with the lining and facing in mutually superposed relation whereby the sewing machine forms a line of stitching securing adjacent edges of the lining and facing together, and means for inserting the upper ends of belt loops between the facing and lining for anchoring the upper ends of the belt loops to the facing and lining by said line of stitching, said inserting means comprising a turntable, means for pivotally mounting the turntable to bring a portion of its periphery in overlapping relationship with, and extending between, the facing and lining, the turntable having frictional engagement with one of said strips for rotating the turntable by the movement of the strips through the sewing machine, belt loop clamps arcuately spaced about the periphery of the turntable for engaging lengths of belt looping and carrying them at spaced intervals between the facing and lining, spring means tending to close the clamps, a cam surface on each clamp, a cam actuator for engaging the cam surface at each clamp for opening the clamp for the reception of a length of looping and for permitting the clamp thereafter to close under the influence of its spring means before insertion of the associated length of looping between the strips, and guide means for receiving a length of belt looping and guiding it radially inwardly of the turntable beneath a clamp while it is raised by said cam actuator.

5. The combination with a sewing machine for sewing together the adjacent edges of the superposed facing and lining plies of a waistband, of a guide for receiving a strip of waistband having a creased-over lateral edge, means on the guide for unfolding the creased edge of the waistband and presenting it to the sewing machine, and a lining guide for receiving a strip of lining and presenting it to the sewing machine, the two guides cooperating to present the lining and facing to the sewing machine in mutually superposed position with the bight of the unfolded crease away from the lining strip.

6. The combination with a sewing machine for sewing together the adjacent edges of the superposed facing and lining plies of a waistband, of a guide for receiving a strip of waistband having creased-over lateral edge, means on the guide for unfolding the creased edge of the waistband and presenting it to the sewing machine, a lining guide for receiving a strip of lining and presenting it to the sewing machine, the two guides cooperating to present the lining and facing to the sewing machine in mutually superposed position with the bight of the unfolded crease away from the lining strip, and means for feeding lengths of belt looping between the superposed facing and lining transversely thereof with the ends of the looping extending across the line of stitch formed by the sewing machine, whereby the creased edge of the facing is secured to the adjacent edge of the lining with one end of each length of belt looping anchored therebetween.

'7. The combination with a sewing machine, of means for guiding the facing strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, means for guiding the lining strip of a waistband to the sewin machine, with the lining and facing in mutually superposed relation whereby the sewing machine forms a line of stitching securing adjacent edges of the lining and facing together, and means for inserting the upper ends of belt loops between the facing and lining for anchoring the upper ends of the belt loops to the facing and lining by said line of stitching, said inserting means comprising a turntable, means for pivotally mounting the turntable to bring a portion of its periphery in overlapping relationship with, and extending between, the facing and lining, a marginal strip of frictional material on the underside of the turntable for engagement by the understrip for rotating the turnable, and loop carrying means arcuately spaced about the margin of the turntable on its upper side for carrying successive belt loops at spaced intervals between the facing and lining.

8. The combination with a sewing machine, of means for guiding the facing strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, means for guiding the lining strip of a waistband to the sewing ma chine, with the lining and facing in mutually superposed relation whereby the sewing machine forms a line of stitching securing adjacent edges of the lining and facing together, and means for inserting the upper ends of belt loops between the facing and lining for anchoring the upper ends of the belt loops to the facing and lining by said line of stitching, said inserting means comprising a turntable of flexible sheet material, means for pivotally mounting the turntable to bring a portion of its periphery in overlapping relationship with, and extending between, the facing and lining, the turntable having frictional engagement with one of said strips for rotating the turntable by the movement of the strips through the sewing machine, and loop engaging means arcuately spaced about the periphery of the turntable for carrying successive belt loops at spaced intervals between the facing and lining.

9. The combination with a sewing machine, of means for guiding the facing strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, means for guiding the lining strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, with the lining and facing in mutually superposed relation whereby the sewing machine forms a line of stitching securing adjacent edges of the lining and facing together, and means for inserting the upper ends of belt loops between the facing and lining for anchoring the upper ends of the belt loops to the facing and lining by said line of stitching, said inserting means comprising a turntable, means for pivotally mounting the turntable to bring a portion of its periphery in overlapping relationship with, and extending between, the facing and lining, means for rotating the turntable in timed relation to the feed of the strips through the sewing machine, and loop engaging means arcuately spaced about the periphery of the turntable for carrying successive belt loops at spaced intervals between the facing and lining.

10. The combination with a sewing machine, of means for guiding the facing strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, means for guiding the lining strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, with the lining and facing in mutually superposed relation whereby the sewing machine forms a line of stitching securing adjacent edges of the lining and facing together, and means for inserting the upper ends of belt loops between the facing and lining for anchoring the upper ends of the belt loops to the facing and lining by said line of stitching, said inserting means comprising a turntable of flexible sheet material, means for pivotally mounting the turntable to bring a portion of its periphery in overlapping relationship with, and extending between, the facing and lining, means for rotating the turntable in timed relation to the feed of the strips through the sewing machine, and loop engaging means arcuately spaced about the periphery of the turntable for carrying successive belt loops at spaced intervals between the facing and lining.

11. The combination with a sewing machine, of means for guiding the facing strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, means for guiding the lining strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, with the lining and facing in mutually superposed relation whereb; the sewing machine forms a line of stitching securing adjacent edges of the lining and facing together, and means for inserting the upper ends of belt loops between the facing lining for anchoring the upper ends of the belt loops to the facing and lining by said line of stitching, said inserting means comprising a turntable, means for pivotally mounting the turntable to bring a portion of its periphery in overlapping relationship with, and extending between, the facing and lining, means for rotating the turntable in timed relation to the feed of the strips through the sewing machine, loop engaging means arcuately spaced about the periphery of the turntable for carrying successive belt loops at spaced intervals between the facing and lining, and fixed guide means adjacent the turntable for feeding lengths of belt loop to said loop engaging means on the turntable.

12. The combination with a sewing machine, of means for guiding the facing strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, means for guiding the lining strip of a waistband to the sewing machine, with the lining and facing in mutually superposed relation whereby the sewing machine forms a line of stitching securing adjacent edges of the lining and facing together, and means for inserting the upper ends of belt loops between the facing and lining strips for anchoring the upper ends of the belt loops to the facing and lining strips by said line of stitching, and means v 

